Time Trap Book 2: Reliving the Past
by Shoto Man
Summary: Shortly after his time traveling experience, Mega Man gets an unexpected visitor...Finally updated again. Sorry about the looong wait.
1. Prologue

Time Trap: Book 2

Reliving the Past

Starring Mega Man and Mega Man X

By Shoto Man

Author's note: If you haven't read Book 1 yet, I suggest you do so. If you don't, nothing in this book will make any sense whatsoever. Mega Man and all related characters are copyrights to Capcom. Thank you and have a nice day :) 

Prologue

20XX A.D. 

New York City, sometimes called Megalopolis, always had been rather crowded, with hundreds of people shuffling off to their daily routines. Due to this, most citizens tended to ignore those around them as long as there was nothing of particular interest about them, and as such, hardly anyone even saw the blonde sixteen year old wearing a Mets baseball cap in their midst. He didn't mind. In fact, he preferred it that way. If anyone recognized him for who he was, he'd have probably gone through the twenty-first century equivalent of being stoned to death. Bass grinned to himself. _Hiding out in plain sight._ Never before had he realized how easy it really was. Perhaps Protoman's infamous "mysterious disappearances" weren't so mysterious after all. 

It had been a week since Bass had left Dr. Wily's Space Node, and life was going well for him for the first time ever. Passing himself off as a human and using an alias, he'd managed to get himself a reasonable apartment for cheap, which was where Treble was, now, holographically disguised, of course. For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to go over to Dr. Lights lab, just yet, and that's where he really wanted to be. Roll was there. Bass grinned to himself again. A robot that could love. Boy howdy, would Dr. Wily give him an earful about how robots were not supposed to have feelings of any kind whatsoever, if he ever heard of Bass's secret. That was probably part of the reason Bass hated him so much. 

"'Scuse me," a voice from behind interrupted his thoughts. "Do you have the time?" 

Bass turned and found himself facing three men, one quite large and muscular, and two others much smaller and leaner. They looked to all the world like human beings, but Bass recognized them as the robots they really were. After all, he helped Wily design the holo-camo. "Yeah, time for me to get the heck outta here!" he replied with a grin, then disappeared into the crowd. 

The three robots tried to follow him, but there was a reason that Bass had once been Wily's right hand man. He was one of the most skilled robotic warriors there was, rivaling even the famous Mega Man, and though he didn't do so very often, he knew many ways of avoiding fights, as well as winning them. 

"Aw nuts," the big one­Guts Man­complained. "He gotta way!" 

"That'sssss enough, Gutsssss Man," Snake Man­one of the smaller robots repremanded­ Basssss'll ssssssurly ssssshow up again. It'sssss only a matter of time." 

Elec Man, the third disguised robot lifted a hand and sparks of electricity played across it for a moment. "Yeah, and when he does, he's in for a shock he'll never forget!" 

Bass, lying flat on a ledge several stories up, heard the entire exchange. _Only a matter of time, huh?_ He thought to himself wryly. _Time's what got me into this mess in the first place._

He had thought that getting back to his own time would be the end of his recent problems. Little did he know that it was only the beginning.. 


	2. Future Shock

Chapter 1

Future Shock

  
  


21XX A.D... 

They all gathered outside of the Hunter Tower; Mega Man, Protoman, Roll, Rush, Dr. Light, X, Zero, Iris, Colonel, and Tengu Man. Dr. Wily sulked at a distance as the others said goodbye. "You sure you're gonna be okay in this era?" Bass asked Tengu Man. 

The taller robot shrugged. "Sure. Now that I'm a Reploid, I don't really belong in the past anymore, and since I beat that Maverick Virus thing, the Hunters have taken me on, so it's not a big deal." 

X and Rock gripped hands. "Well, see ya," Mega Man said with a grin. 

X grinned. "I hope not." 

Bass gave Zero one last brotherly embrace, then separated from the group a ways. "I guess we can't do anymore damage around this popsicle stand, so I say it's time to blow this joint." 

With a quick set of commands in his teleporter, Bass summoned another vortex, now blue instead of purple. "Good guys, first," he remarked with a smirk. "This'll take you to Dr. Light's lab." Dr. Light, Rush, and Roll went through first, and Hadrian and Rock were about to follow, when Bass stopped them. "Oh, by the way. Check your closets when you get there. I left Cossack and Kalinka tied up in one of them. The two brothers smirked and nodded before leaping into the funnel of light. "Okay, Doc," Bass nodded to Wily. "Your turn." 

"It's about bloody time you got to me!" Wily yelled angrily. "I created you! You should have put me above all the others! I ought to shut you­!" 

"Aw, shut up!" Bass interrupted as he pushed the old man in before he could continue. Finally he turned to the assembled Reploids. "See ya!" He said with a grin and a salute before he leapt in after his creator. 

"Well," X stated. "I guess things are gonna return to normal around...waitasec!" X noticed that the warp had yet to close. In fact, it was beginning to draw the air around it into itself, like a vacuum. 

"That can't be good," Zero agreed. 

Suddenly the vacuum effect intensified, and Iris, by far the lightest of the group, was sent hurtling toward the warp. "Heeeeeey!" she cried out in surprise. 

"Gotcha!" Zero quipped as he managed to grab one of her hands with both of his own. Zero was being anchored by X, who had one hand around his partner's waist and the other around a street light. Tengu Man and Colonel were far enough away to not be affected by the suction. 

"Zero, I can't hold on!" Iris gasped a split second before her hand slipped out of his. With a scream, Iris literally flew backwards and into the warp. 

"Iris!" Zero yelled as he wrenched X's arm from around his waist and leapt in after her. 

X shook his head. "Man, I just know I'm gonna hate myself in the mornin'..." he muttered before he let go of the light fixture and allowed himself to be sucked in as well. 

*************

Before X realized it, he landed unceremoniously on the soft, damp surface of a grassy hill. He looked up to see that Zero and Iris had landed in the same area he had, and were already picking themselves up. The warp had, of course, disappeared by now. "What the heck was that all about?" Zero asked, annoyed. 

"I have no idea," Iris, the more scientifically minded of the three, said. "Either Bass made a miscalculation when he opened the warp, or there was some kinda irregularity about it. Maybe those things aren't all that stable to begin with. There's just no way to be sure, though." 

X was getting the lay of his surroundings and groaned when he saw the nondescript house they of which lawn they landed. Zero heard him and asked, "Hey, X. What's up?" 

X turned to his companions. "We're in big trouble, guys. That's Dr. Light's lab. We're stuck in Rock's time period." 

Zero, as was his habit when faced with a new problem, cursed. 

************

20XX A.D.... 

The garage of Dr. Light's lab looked quite a bit different from what one might expect. In fact, it looked like the garage of a teenager who was obsessed with his car. A stack of tires were placed in one corner, one wall had many tools hanging on it. Along the other wall, by the door that lead into the rest of the house, in a nice wooden frame, hung the front page of a newspaper, now almost ten years old. The headline read _Mega Man: Fighter for Everlasting Peace._ Whoever had thought that headline up had apparently been playing too much video games. Still, it was the first ever report on Mega Man's exploits, so it had won a place of honor on Dr. Light's walls. In the center of the garage rested a classic 2025 hover car. Protruding from beneath the car, was a pair of legs. Those legs belonged to Rock­who was also known as Mega Man. 

Rock hummed contntedly to himself as he reached for a wrench from the tool box he had with him. He had been a tool using robot before Dr. Wily's first attack, and many of those old skills stuck with him. Shortly after the third battle with Dr. Wily, Rock had found this car in a scrap yard, and bought it cheap. Of course, it was anything but cheap to restore it to its former glory, but Dr. Light was quite wealthy, what with the income he got from his top-of-the-line inventions, and the kindly scientist realized that Rock could really use a project to keep him busy, so Rock was allowed to purchase almost whatever was needed for the car. Of course, now the car was his pride and joy, and no one was allowed to drive it without his permission­Dr. Light included. 

The gate to the house opened and a young girl with curly blonde hair stepped into the garage. Today, she was wearing a typical tee shirt and shorts, though Rock had seen her in a traditional Russian costume more often than not. "Hey, Rock," Kalinka Cossack called, with an almost unnoticeable Russian accent. "There are some guests at the door." 

Rock pushed the small hovering platform he was lying on out from under the car and reguarded the young daughter of his creator's good friend. Dr. Light, Dr. Cossack, and Roll had all gone into the city. There was a project the two were working on that needed more sophisticated equipment than that found at Dr. Light's home, so they instead went to New York's LighTech building­home base of the robotics firm Dr. Light had started. Roll went along to make sure the two scientists ate. "Did'ja tell 'em that the Doc was out?" Rock asked Kalinka. 

Kalinka shrugged. "I did, but they said they were here to see you as much as he. I invited them in, and they are waiting for you in the living room." 

Rock frowned slightly. As rare as uninvited visitors were in the first place, it was even rarer that any should really want to see _him_. Rock was beginning to feel a little uneasy, and though he didn't know what had caused the feeling, it did cause him to ask, "What did they look like?" 

Kalinka thought for a moment. "Well, there were three of them. One girl, two boys. The girl was a little taller than you, with brown hair. The boys were about this tall," Kalinka held her hand high above her head, "and one had black hair and looked kind of like you. The other one was blonde, with long hair down to his knees." 

Rock stopped cold. It couldn't have been them! But, Rock knew very other men who'd wear their hair that long. "Tell 'em I'll be right there," he said to Kalinka. 

*****************

As it was, it took Rock a few minutes to meet with his guests. Wether they were who he thought they were or not, he didn't want to appear before them all covered in grease. When he did appear after cleaning up, he saw that his suspicions were correct. They may have been wearing human cloths, Iris was even wearing a baseball cap, but there was no mistaking who they were. "X, Zero, Iris," he said with not a hint of surprise in his voice. "What are you doing here?" 

X grinned. "Not our idea, trust me!" 

*****************

Outside the lab, hidden in the shadows of a tree planted next to the house, a mysterious figure watched. His scarf fluttered in the slight breeze as the light reflected off both his red and grey armor and the dark visor covering his eyes. The red robot grinned. "It seems that this week's gonna be pretty interesting after all..." he muttered to himself. Then, as silently as he had appeared, Protoman was gone. 


	3. Running Into Old Friends

Chapter 2

Running Into Old Friends...

"So what you need is for Doc Light to find a way to send you guys back to the future, right?" Rock asked. 

X nodded. "Yeah. We can't very well find Bass, since Wily's pretty good at hiding 'till he wants to be found, and we're not sure if he'd be able or willing to help us anyways." Zero clenched his fists for a moment at that last remark, but kept silent. "But Dr. Light was­is­the most brilliant man on the planet with regards to robotics and the like, so we thought that if anyone could help us, he can." 

Rock nodded himself with a grin. "Got that right. The problem is, the Doc's at the other lab right now..." 

"_Other_ lab?" Zero asked with just a hint of surprise. 

Rock's grin grew wider. "What, did you think he did _all_ his work here? Most of it, he does, but he owns an international robotics firm as well, and some projects require too much specialized equipment for even Dr. Light to get on his own, so sometimes he heads over to LighTech's main lab in the city." 

Iris shrugged. "Then I guess we're just going to have to pay LighTech a visit. Rock, would you be willing to...?" 

"Say no more," Rock interrupted. "My car's all tuned up and ready to roll. I c'n get you to LighTech in no time. Just's long as it's understood, _I_ get to drive." 

The others laughed at Rock's possesiveness and agreed. 

*****************

Dr. Wily was fuming. It had been a week since Bass had deserted him, and despite the fact that the evil scientist had a greater portion of the Robot Masters scouring the streets for him in holo-camo, they still hadn't turned him up. He turned and faced three of his returned Robot Masters­in their normal battle armor. They were Snake Man, Guts Man, and Elec Man. "You mean to tell me," Wily said in a flat voice, "that you actually found Bass, and you let him get AWAY!?!?" 

The three robots before the raging doctor, unlike Bioroids like Rock or Bass, had no true emotions of their own, and as such felt no true fear or shame at Dr. Wily's words. But they were programmed to act like they did, so they shied away anyways. And though they had no feelings to hurt, they could sense that they had displeased their master, and wanted to make up for it. "It wasn't our fault," Elec Man said with a perfect imitation of nervousness in his voice. "The streets were crowded and..." 

"SHUT UP!!!!" Dr. Wily screamed. "I don't want any excuses! Now you get down there and find that little black rat and bring him back up here or don't bother coming back at all! Understood?" 

The three robots understood perfectly, and turned and ran from Dr. Wily's lab. 

Dr. Wily sighed, looking around at his empty lab. Strange as it was, Dr. Wily was not only mad at Bass's apparent betrayal, but he actually missed the black robot, and he couldn't even explain why. _Life was so much easier before I decided to build that robot_, Wily thought to himself. 

Dr. Wily stormed past his blue and yellow saucer on his way to his to his living quarters. He stopped though, when he could have sworn he heard a soft, but deep, chuckle emanate from the vehicle. Wily shook his head. _I must be working too hard,_ he finally decided. 

*****************

The three Reploids decided that Rock was perfectly justified in his pride in his car. It was certainly a beauty. They had now driven into the city proper and were maybe five minutes away from the LighTech building when a voice could be heard over the crowd. "There he is! Get 'im!" Rock turned and saw three Robot Masters running in his direction. _Aw, nuts!_ Rock thought, but to his surprise, they ran right past his car, and began chasing a seemingly innocent teenager from the crowd. 

"What the heck...?" X asked as he the others stared, stunned. 

"I'm gonna help the kid out," Rock announced as he leapt from the car. "You guys, stay put!" 

Anger flared in Zero's circuits. "Hey, we're just as good at fighting as you!" 

X placed a hand on Zero's shoulder. "Calm down, buddy!" he admonished. "We're engangering the timeline enough as it is just being here. Who knows what'll happen if we reveal ourselves. 

Zero looked at his best friend for a moment, then slumped in his seat. "Okay, I'll stay put. But that doesn't mean I have to like it..." 

"I don't like it any more than you do," Iris said seriously. "But X's right. Rock and the other Bioroids are the only thinking robots there are right now. If the world at large found out about us, who knows what might happen." 

A sudden voice from outside surprised them as it added, "Nothing good that's for sure!" 

The three disguised Reploids turned in surprise and found themselves looking at a boy that appeared to be Rock, but wearing a leather jacket, fingerless gloves, and a visor-like pair of sunglasses. A yellow scarf fluttered in the wind from around his neck, betraying his true identity to those who knew him. "Hadrian!" X gasped. "What're you doing here?" 

Hadrian Blues, known better to the world at large as Protoman, grinned at the Reploids. He seemed less surprised to see them than they were to see him. "I'm always around. More so than Rock even knows. Somebody has to keep an eye on him you know." 

X chuckled a bit at that. With his recently recovered memories, he knew all about the mysterious ways of Hadrian. Iris interrupted any reply he might have made with, "If that's the case, why don't you help Rock out? He's outnumbered three to one." 

Hadrian leaned lazily against Rock's car as he watched his little brother scramble up the fire escape of a nearby building and try to intercept the Robot Masters by leaping from rooftop to rooftop. "He's not as outnumbered as you might think, Iris," he relied. "And even if he was, it's only Guts Man, Snake Man, and Elec Man; generation one and three Robot Masters. He'll have no trouble with them, and I prefer to let him play the hero if I can at all help it." 

**********************

Rock, meanwhile, took a running leap to clear the space between two more rooftops. As he did, he hit a cleverly concealed button on his wrist that caused his blue battle armor­complete with a new helmet to replace the one he lost recently­to appear around his body in a flash, effectively transforming his identity from Rock to Mega Man. 

Mega Man outdistanced the chase slightly and situated himself on another fire escape in order to ambush the Robot Masters. Then he saw something that made him stop short for a second. Elec Man fired his Thunder Beam weapon at the fleeing human and hit him full in the back with the bolt of electricity. The kid fell to the ground for a second, but got up again and kept on running. 

_What IS this kid?_ Mega Man thought. The Thunder Beam was powerful enough to destroy Mega Man in just a few hits, so a human would have had no chance against it. Mega Man shrugged. _Well, whatever he is, if Wily want's 'im, then I can't let him have 'im!_

That decided, Mega Man leapt over the railing and landed a perfect flying kick into Guts Man's side, sending the much larger robot flying. Guts Man fell to the ground with a resounding _bang!_ He climbed to his feet and wasn't inhibited despite the fair sized dent in his side. As a basic robot, he had no nerves and thus felt no real pain, though his systems could tell him how bad every sector of his body was. Guts Man charged at Mega Man and aimed a left hook at Mega Man's jaw. Mega Man ducked out of the way and hit Guts Man full on the chest with a fully charged Mega Buster shot, which knocked the larger robot down again. "Y'know, I think you're getting slow, Gutsy, and that's saying something," Mega Man laughed. 

"Ssssstay out of thisssss, Mega Man!" Snake Man hissed. "Thisssss issss none of your concssssern!" 

"Sorry, Snake," Mega Man replied. "Anytime you guys show up in this city is my concern, so you will have to deal with me wether you like it or not." 

"Fine, then," Snake Man said. "Elec Man, take 'em out!" 

"With pleasure," the black and red Robot Master replied as he fired off his Thunder Beam at Mega Man. Mega Man grabbed the blonde kid the Robot Masters had been chasing and dove out of the way. Of course, with the close vicinity they were in, it was inevitable that Mega Man would discover that the boy he was protecting was a robot. When they both crashed to the pavement, Mega Man got a clear look at the other robot's face, and did a double take. "Bass...?" he managed to sputter. 

Bass nodded with a grin. "Yup, and you know, I'm getting real tired of running from these goons!" 

Bass pushed Mega Man out of the way and hit his own Armor Recall, causing his black and gold armor to appear around him. The black Bioroid turned to his former comrades. "You want me, come and get me!" 

Elec Man shot another Thunder Beam at Bass, which was dodged. Bass then ran straight at the Robot Master before he had a chance to recharge his weapon. He grabbed the other black armored robot by the forearm, and with a mighty swing, sent him flying into Snake Man. Guts Man tried to catch Bass in a bear hug, but Bass spun around and drove his fist into the Robot Master's chest. He pulled out a mess of wires and circuitry, causing Guts Man to collapse in a heap. Bass turned to the other two Robot Masters. "Continue this fight, and you will end up like him," he said conversationally as he pointed to the lifeless Guts Man. 

Though normally a Robot Master would fight to the "death," they realized that they weren't going to do Dr. Wily any good if they got themselves destroyed, so they ran. Bass dusted off his hands when he realized that there was quite a crowd gathered around him, most of them yelling angrily at him. Before he knew it, a blue arm wrapped itself around his neck. "Don't worry, I got 'im!" Mega Man's voice called out to the people from behind Bass. 

"What're you doing!" Bass hissed at Mega Man. 

"Just play along," Mega Man whispered back. Mega Man discreetly held his right forearm out into Bass's view, and a small panel slid up on its underside, revealing Mega Man's teleporter controls. "It's all set, just kinda 'accidentally' hit it," Mega Man explained. 

Bass suddenly understood. "You won't get me that easily," he said loudly for the crowds benefit. Then, he wrapped his fingers around Mega Man's wrist and hit the button. Both robots disappeared in a blue beam of light. 

***************

The two Bioroids landed on a rooftop not far from where the battle took place. As soon as they landed, Bass tore himself from Mega Man's grip. "Y'know, nobody asked for your help," he said, though a small smile began to play on his lips. 

Mega Man smiled too. "Well, nobody asked you to play such a convincing human in distress that needed to be saving either." 

Bass's grin grew wider. "Bite me." 

Mega Man's did, too. "No thanks." 

The two robots stood there, grinning at each other for a moment more, then Bass turned his back to the blue robot. "Well, anyways," he said, somewhat awkwardly. "Thanks." 

Mega Man shrugged. "No problem. So why would Wily send his goons after _you_ of all people?" 

Bass turned back to Mega Man. "Simple. I defected." Mega Man blinked. Bass chuckled. "It's been about a week, actually. I've just been able to avoid them better before now." 

Mega Man stood there for a moment more, then finally asked. "So if you've been away from Wily all this time, why hadn't you come to the lab? Roll misses you." 

Bass lowered his head in shame. "I know. And I miss her, too. It's just...I can't explain it! I just can't go over there. Just not yet." Bass turned to Mega Man and looked imploringly into his eyes. "Look, I just need some time alone for now. I guess, to just get used to living without having a creator to take orders from. Could you just give me that? Please?" 

Mega Man thought about that. He then realized that if he had left Dr. Light for whatever reason, he'd have to have some time to adjust himself. Mega Man nodded. "Sure. And I won't tell Roll that I've seen you around, either. No use in getting her even more teary-eyed than she already is." 

Bass nodded. "Thanks," he said an instant before teleporting away. 

Mega Man watched as the beam of violet energy seemed to shoot off into the stratosphere before disappearing. Then he slapped himself on the forehead. "Rock, you doof! You forgot to tell 'im about X and the others!" 

Mega Man heard a chuckling sound behind him and turned to see the source. It was Hadrian. Mega Man frowned. "So, how long have _you_ known?" He wouldn't have put it past his brother to have known about the defection all along and not tell him. That was the way Hadrian was. 

Hadrian shrugged. "About a day, now. I kinda bumped into him yesterday. And I didn't tell you for the same reason you aren't gonna tell Roll." 

Mega Man stopped short. He hadn't thought about it like that. "Well, point taken. Still..." 

Hadrian slapped his younger brother in the back. "Don't worry so much. He'll come around. When he's ready, he'll come around. After all, I did, didn't I?" 

Mega Man grinned. "Well, the jury's still out on that one. You are a bit of a weirdo, still." Mega Man ducked a playful punch thrown at him by Hadrian. "Well, lets get back to the others before Zero destroys my car!" 


	4. An Enemy's Return

Chapter 3

An Enemy's Return

Dr. Wily's Space Node, in orbit around the Moon... 

It was time. He had waited two weeks already, cursing that blasted human. Or at least he would be if he had a voice. The space he was confined in now was much smaller than what he was used to inhabiting. Still, at least he was able to infect this machine and keep his basic identity intact. Anyway, he had waited long enough. After all, even his considerable patience had its limits, and his current position was promising. Very promising indeed. 

Dr. Wily's infamous blue and yellow escape pod sat, still and silent, in Dr. Wily's garage, for lack of a better term. The pod was one of several modes of vehicular transportation the mad robotiscist often liked to use. In one corner was the latest model of the "Wilymachine." It basically consisted of a flying tank adorned with a large skull decorating the front. He stuck with the classic design this time, rather than a ground based tank or "spider walker." As impressive as the Wilymachine was, though, the saucer was Wily's most often used transportation. After all, it was compact, easily hidden, and capable of long range flight. It had become as much a symbol of Dr. Wily as the skull or "Dr. W" symbol was. Now, though, it had an unintended passanger. 

The hatch at the top of the pod popped open. A wire used for downloading information into the ship's computer slid out of the opening of its own power. It plugged itself into the terminal on one wall. This time it wasn't downloading. This time it was _up_loading. At last, he was free! 

***********

"RRRROOOOOCK!" 

Rock slapped himself on the forehead again. "Oh, man..." 

X stopped, too, a sudden feeling of dread coming over him. "Was that...?" 

"Roll," Hadrian identified with a grin. He decided to stick around, since he'd revealed himself now anyways. "And it sounds like she's in one of her 'moods.'" 

The doorway at the end of the hall the five robots were walking down burst open, and a furious Roll stood framed in it. She glared at Rock and the others, Hadrian included, backed away, despite the fact that they all individually were many times more powerful than the little housekeeper. "Rock," she managed through clenched teeth, "Would you be so kind as to explain this for me?" 

"Explain what?" Rock asked with a shrug. 

Roll grabbed her brother by his shirt collar and dragged him into the room. She shut the door with a _bang!_ The others just stood there. "She didn't even see us!" Iris remarked, surprised. 

"Trust me," X replied. "At the moment, that's a good thing." 

**************

Rock found himself in the living room of Dr. Light's apartment­his home away from home when he had work to do. "Alright, buster, you've got a lot of explaining to do!" Roll demanded with a glare. 

"Roll, what are you talkin' about?" Rock asked. 

"This!" Roll cried as she used a remote to turn on the nearby television set. It showed the mock struggle Mega Man had with Bass the instant before they disappeared. 

Rock groaned. "I was afraid of that..." 

Roll tapped her foot impatiently. "Well...?" 

Rock sighed. "All right, I ran into Bass today, obviously. And no, I didn't know he was out and about before today, and yes I do know he helped me defeat the Robot Masters, and yes I know I just made him look like the bad guy again." 

Roll blinked. Her brother had answered just about every question she was going to ask before she even thought of them. "B-but why...?" she began. 

Rock threw his arms up in frustration. "Roll, you remember how long it took for me to convince the world at large that Hade was a good guy after that whole Dark Man incident, don't you?" Roll nodded. "Well with Bass it'll be even more difficult as he actually _was_ a bad guy at one point! I did what I did because it was the quickest, easiest way to get him outta there without anybody getting hurt! Understand?" 

Roll nodded. "I guess...but why hasn't he come here?" 

Rock cringed at the hurt in Roll's voice. Why couldn't his life ever be simple for a change? "Because, he needs some time to adjust. As big a jerk as Wily is, he was Bass's superior for his whole life. He needs some time to be his own robot. Like Hadrian. He'll come around when he's ready," Rock finished, repeating earlier words. 

The door opened and Hadrian poked his head through the crack. "Is the storm over?" he asked cheerily. 

"Sure, come on in," Rock replied. 

The door opened and Hadrian led the three Reploids into the room. Roll looked at X. She looked at Zero. She looked at Iris. Then she fainted. 

*****************

Wily was fuming as he was repairing the damaged Guts Man. "I don't believe you. It was three against two and you couldn't handle it?" 

Snake Man stood tall. He had decided that honesty was a better reaction at the moment than fear. "That'sssss right ssssir. We were unable to finissssh our missssion." 

"I don't see why I don't just melt the lot of you down to scrap metal. You'd be more useful to me that way." Wily responded. 

A deep, hauntingly familiar voice chuckled, seeming to come from every direction at once. "Wily, Wily, Wily. That is no way to talk to a creature who outclasses you to such a degree." 

Wily felt the cold touch of fear shoot down his spine. "No," he whispered. "It can't be..." 

The largest monitor in the room activated, showing a bald, scarred face. "But it is," the face said. 

Wily stood stock still in terror. "Sigma! It can't be! I killed you in the future!" 

The wire frame image smiled. "Ah, but it is not so simple a matter to destroy me. I have a special knack for keeping my essence alive, even though my body may be destroyed. Once I even survived an attack from a program specially designed to erase me. And so it was a simple matter for me to possess your little pod. And Wily..." several weapons unfolded themselves from the walls. "No one betrays _me_ and lives either." All at once, the weapons opened fire, all aimed at one spot, the spot where Wily was standing. The assault lasted about a minute, and when it was over, there was nothing there but a charred spot on the floor. Sigma laughed. "With that worthless bag of worm food out of the way, it is only a matter of time before I reprogram his robots and pave the way for the Reploid race!" Sigma erupted in his first evil laugh in days. 


	5. The Calm Before the Storm

Chapter 4

The Calm Before the Storm

Darkness had begun to descend around Dr. Light's lab, and Rock was sitting on the porch with his head resting in his hands. Dr. Light and the three Reploids had been inside trying to find a way to send the renegades from Time home. No luck so far. The alien energy used to create the time portals was quite unique and most difficult to emulate. Still, if anyone could find a way to beat this thing, it would be Dr. Light. 

Rock heard the footsteps behind him, but made no move. They stopped right behind him and a female voice said "Penny for your thoughts." 

Rock looked up. Roll was standing behind him, leaning over him with a small smile on her face. Rock smiled slightly himself. "How 'bout a quarter?" 

Roll sat next to him and slugged him playfully on his shoulder. "Nah, nothing that comes outta your head can be worth that much." 

"Thanks a lot," Rock returned with a smirk. 

Roll turned serious. "Now really, Rock. What's bothering you?" 

Rock sighed. "I don't know for sure, and that's the problem. There's a lotta things, actually. First, it's Bass. He's out there and Wily's after him. I know he can take care of himself well enough--I mean, he could almost beat me!--still, I don't like knowing a friend of mine is out by himself and is a target for Wily." 

Roll nodded. She felt very much the same way, though she was possibly even more worried due to her stronger feelings for Bass. "That's not the extent of it, is it?" she asked. 

Rock grinned humorlessly. "You know me too well. Truth be told, I'm mostly concerned about X, Zero, and Iris." 

One of Roll's eyebrows went up. "How so?" 

"I dunno. It's just that...well, when we were in the future, X was rather concerned about how our being there would effect the course of history. Us making different decisions based on our knowledge of the future, that kinda thing. How much worse is it now, that beings from the future are now in what is for them the past?" 

Roll shrugged. "Don't worry so much, Rock," she said in an attempt to lighten her brother up a little. "I mean, the only people who know about them are those of us who went to the future anyways, and they are keeping out of sight of the general public, so how much worse can it really be?" 

Again Rock shrugged. "I dunno. But I have a strange feeling that their very presence here is somehow putting the timeline out of whack." 

Roll stood up and brushed herself off. "You worry too much. Everything'll be all right. You'll see." That said, she went back inside. 

"I hope you're right, Roll," Rock said to thin air. "I really hope you're right." 

****************

X sat on his bed in one of Dr. Light's guest rooms, staring into space. "This a private sulk, or can anybody join in?" a voice asked from the doorway. 

X turned. It was Zero. "I wasn't sulking," the blue Reploid objected. "I was...thinking." 

Zero shrugged. "Riiiiiiiight. So whatcha thinkin''bout?" 

X shrugged. "It's just....I don't know." 

Zero sat down next to his friend. "Sure ya do. If you don't, then you're even worse off than I originally thought." 

X sighed again. "Alright, alright! Zero, I have my memories back--all of 'em, or most of 'em at least! Now I don't only know that I was created by Dr. Light, but I remember it. I remember how he was a father to me. I even remember...my brother and sister..." 

"You don't mean..." 

"Hadrian and Roll. I used to be Rock." X laughed mirthlessly. "Now, here I am, surrounded by my long lost family, the family I thought I'd never meet again. But it's not my family, it's Rock's! In my memory, Hadrian is my older brother and one of my best friends. Now that I'm here, he's not much more than aquaintence--a war buddy if you will." 

Zero couldn't think of anything really meaningful to say, so he settled on, "Life sucks." 

X nodded. "Yeah, it does. And the worst thing was, I always thought that if I recovered my memories, then all my problems would be over. But in reality, it only gives me a whole new set of problems." 

Zero sat up. "Yeah, well stop whining like a baby about it." 

X was startled. "Huh?" 

Zero turned and looked his blue partner dead in the eye. "I'm saying, X, that crap happens. Deal with it. I mean, it's kinda naive to think that one thing will solve all of life's problems. But you just have to roll with the punches. I mean, take me for instance. What has the recovery of memories brought to me? I find I was created by a world-class nutcase, found out I was once what I fight against, and that chances are, I had a hand in creating the all time most evil force in the word. But you don't see me moping about in my bedroom. Life's short, life sucks, then you die. You just have to make the best of it." Zero turned to go. "Good night, partner." 

X hesitated. "Zero," he said, stopping his partner. Zero turned and looked at the blue Reploid. "Thanks," he said with a smile. 

Zero smiled back. "Anytime, partner, any time." 

********************

Zero stepped out of X's borrowed room, and strode to the main lab room where Dr. Light was working. Little did he realize that the entire conversation was overheard. From a shadowy corner emerged Hadrian. He looked meaningfully at the now closed gate. His worst suspicions were confirmed. The question was, what was he going to do about it. 

************

Meanwhile and elsewhere, Bass was feeling restless. He had a strange feeling that there was a sudden shift. Bioroids aren't psychic of course, but they do often times have a heightened "sixth-sense" about some things--particularly things that involved their creators. This was one of the reasons that Mega Man had as many strange dreams as he did. Bass paced around his room for a moment, then sat on his bed, only to stand up and pace some more. Treble growled. "You feel it to, don'cha, boy?" Bass asked. Of course Treble felt it. Not only was he a Bioroid, but one based off of an animal. And that meant his sixth-sense was at an even higher level then Bass. Bass finally came to a stop at his window. "Something ain't cosier in Denmark," Bass muttered to himself. "I can feel it, somehow. Something is happening." 

The world's only four Bioroids got very little sleep that night. 


	6. Robot Master Attack

Chapter 5

Robot Master Attack  
  


The streets of Megalopolis were bustling as usual. Bass couldn't help but be amused. After all, he was at the moment still considered public enemy #1 by the people at large, and here he was, right in the middle of them all without a single one of the people taking notice of him. Well, that wasn't exactly true, he was getting a couple of wide-eyed stares on account of the large wolf-dog he had at the end of his leash, but Bass would simply wave and give assurance that Treble was well-trained.

"Ah, this is the life," he thought to himself as his holographically disguised dog pulled hard on the leash. "No Wily, no orders, no worries." 

The premonition of the night before had seemed a distant memory now, Bass was able to pass it off as mere paranoia. The sun was shining and he was finding himself surprised at just how much he enjoyed--well--enjoying himself. There was really never much time for that in the Skull Forts and Space Nodes and other such places he had lived in the past. 

Bass found himself abruptly pulled out of his revere as a large ham-like hand settled itself on his shoulder. Before he fully registered the feeling, he found his world spin for a second, during which he heard a distant woman scream and the entire crowd around him noisily clear away. When it had stopped he found himself surrounded by twenty Robot Masters. Guts Man, who had roughly pulled Bass into the circle, cracked his knuckles.

"Well, well," Bass said in a confident-sounding voice. "Looks like you found me again. Gonna try and take me back to Wily, I guess?"

Snake Man, obviously the leader of the group once again, shook his head. "Ssssssorry old friend," he hissed. "We have other ordersssss thissssss time. You'll be going back to the Sssssspace Node again. But this time in piecessssss!"

Bass's eyes narrowed as he surveyed the scene. He was surrounded by twenty of Dr. Wily's most powerful Robot Masters, Snake Man being on of the least of them in terms of power. Not promising odds. True Bass was the best fighter out of the bunch, and he could most likely take out four or five Robot Masters on his own, but twenty was a bit much, even for him. "Well," he said cooly. "I guess that just leaves me one option, huh?"

He tapped a button in his hidden teleporter controls only to find that nothing happened. Snake Man chuckled as he showed him a metal sphere in his hand. "Not thissss time, I'm afraid. Assss you can ssssssee. We brought a blocker with us. If you want to esssscape, it will have to be outssssside of this ssssssscircle."

"Lemme pound 'im!" Guts Man burst out. "I owe him one fer last time!"

Something's wrong, here, Bass thought to himself. Robot Masters do make an impressive show at emotions and all, but there's something a little too real about these guys.

"By all meansssssss," Snake Man responded. "We all could do with a little play time now, couldn't we boysssss?"

The others chuckled as they closed the circle. Bass knew that his chances weren't good. He could easily fry them all with the alien energy, but he needed to be combined with Treble to use it. And though it only took a second or two to do it, he was sure that the Robot Masters weren't going to let him do that. Still, he was never one not to go down fighting. "All right then," he said in a casual tone. "That leaves me with just one thing to say."

"And what isssss that?" Snake Man asked.

Bass unhooked Treble's leash. "Treble...KILL!"

Treble surged forward at that command, his disguise disappearing in midair. The large wolf-dog latched onto Hard Man and began to tear into his metal armor. Bass activated his Armor Recall, and, armed in his black and gold armor once again, began to fire at all the surrounding foes. The Robot Masters fired their respective weapons back in a simultaneous attack (except for Hard Man, who was sill dealing with Treble). Bass was a skilled fighter, and managed to dodge their shots for quite a time, and he even took out a few of the Robot Masters, but a Thunder Beam took him in the back, sending him toppling.

"Ooh," he muttered. "Remind me to avoid that one..."

The remaining Robot Masters took advantage of Bass' momentary stun to attack again. A Shadow Blade took him in the side, as he was burned viciously by a Scorch Wheel and Fire Storm blast. Bass knew that there was simply too many foes for him to deal with. Still, he fought on, firing almost blindly as he couldn't see beyond the enemy fire. He turned just in time to see a rocketing fist barreling his way less than a second before impact. The blow nailed him in the face, sending him flying. His last thought before unconsciousness took over was "I guess Hard Man got Treb off...."

***************

Dr. Light sighed in frustration. He was working feverishly on developing a way to send X, Zero, and Iris home. It was proving not to be easy. He was able to come up with a way that could theoretically work, if they could get the right amount of power. The only thing Dr. Light could think of that could produce the amounts required was the Alien Energy. Now, Dr. Light, Rock, X, and Zero were sitting in front of Dr. Light's mainframe computer, attempting to find some kind of substitute, with no success. "Why can't we just find Bass and get him to help us?" Zero asked in annoyance.

"Don't you think I've tried?" Rock responded testily. "He's like Hadrian: when he doesn't want to be found, he won't be found."

A cry from another room pulled his attention from the mass of data in front of him. "Rock!"

"What is it Roll?" Rock asked as his sister ran in from the study.

The look on his sister's face told him that this was something serious. "It's Bass."

***************

  
  


"Oh, crud."

"Tell me about it," X said in response to Rock's statement.

They were watching the news on the holovision. A reporter was standing in the middle of a ruined street. Behind her was a whole mess of Robot Masters, firing on an unmistakable figure. And he was losing. "It's unknown why Dr. Wily would send his Robot Masters to hunt down his second-in-command," she was saying to her worldwide audience. "Or what he would be doing in downtown Megalopolis, but two things are clear. One, we are now in the middle of a war zone, and two, Bass is getting worked over!"

"I'm going after him!" Zero said.

"NO!" Rock yelled. "I'm going after him! We have no idea what your presence here will do to affect the future, but we can't allow you to be seen!"

Zero practically snarled. "He's my brother, Rock! If anyone his gonna go save him..."

"I know how you feel, Zero. Believe me, I do. I have a brother, too, remember? Don't worry, I'll get him out of there, and he will be in one piece." With that, he hit his Armor Recall and teleported away in a stream of blue light.

Zero screamed a curse as loud as he could and stomped out of the room in a huff. "Zero!" Iris cried as she ran after him. X was left staring at the newscast, muttering to himself, unaware that Dr. Light and Roll were listening. "Something's not right," he muttered. "This isn't Dr. Wily's style. It seems more like...but it can't be him...can it?"

**************

  
  


Mega Man landed a short distance from the fight. He quickly took a mental count of the Robot Masters and shook his head in shock. There were now more than twice the number of R.M.'s than Wily used in his usual schemes. And they were all together at once. Not good. Not good at all.

Mega Man was interrupted by a whine. He turned to find Treble lying on his side. The Blue Bomber knelt to console the wounded robo dog. "Hey, Treb, it's me, Rock. Don't worry. I'll get him out of there safe and sound."

"Not without a plan, you won't."

Mega Man turned at the sudden voice behind him. Standing there with a smirk on his face, was a red and grey armored robot with a visor hiding most of his face and a yellow scarf flapping in the breeze. Mega Man grinned. "I was wondering when you'd show up Protoman."

The Red Raider grinned at the intentional use and emphasis on the name. "Well, it looked like you needed help, so here I am."

Mega Man was all serious again. "So what's the plan?"

"Three things. We hit hard, we hit fast, then we leave."

Mega Man shook his head. "But what about the Robot Masters?"

Protoman grinned. "Leave them to me."

*************

  
  


The Robot Masters were closing in on their downed target when the roar of an engine distracted them. Less than a second later, Cut Man was bowled over by a blue and red streak with heavy duty tires. Mega Man had decided that the Rush Cycle would be the best means of a quick attack, and so far it seemed to be working. Whoever he didn't run over he'd pelt with shots from his plasma cannon, as well as the rocket launcher in Rush's mouth. He managed to take the Robot Masters by enough surprise that they didn't start firing at him until he scooped Bass up and had him flung over Rush. By that time it was too late. Mega Man teleported away, with his prize in tow.

Snake Man was seething. "Fine!" he said. "If thatssss the way he wantsss it...Robot Massssstersssss! Desssstroy everything! Get him back here, now!"

"I don't think so!" a new voice said from behind Snake Man. All the Robot Masters turned to see Protoman standing in the midst of the group, a detonator in one hand. He took just a moment to grin at the robots before pressing the button. The ground erupted from the explosions caused by the bombs Protoman had set during the chaos. Some of the more heavily damaged Robot Masters exploded right along with them, while the others were heavily damaged by the blast. The survivors realized that they lost and teleported away to lick their wounds.

Protoman was the only robot left on the decimated battleground. He was quickly approached by the reporter and her news crew. "Protoman! Protoman! Can you give us any information on just what happened here?"

Protoman grinned. "No comment." Then he disappeared in a flash of red.


	7. Recovery

Chapter 6

Recovery

"Fortunately, his injuries are nowhere near as extensive as those he received during the battle with Sigma. We just need to give him time to rest and let his system repair itself."

Zero sighed with relief at Dr. Light's news as he pet the robotic lupine who's head was resting in his lap. "Great. How long's it gonna take?"

Dr. Light smiled slightly. The Reploid was much like Protoman. He kept his feelings hidden beneath a disguise of coolness, but whenever a friend or family member got hurt, his true sensitivity shone through. "Just a few hours," he answered. "He should be waking up around six or so."

Zero grinned. "Thanks, Doc."

"No problem at all," Dr. Light said cheerfully as he began to leave the T.V. room they were in. He paused at the doorway and looked back at the three robots he was talking to. Zero and Iris were sharing the couch, and Rock was leaning against the far wall with his arms crossed. There was a sort of awkwardness to the whole scene, which added more to their human-like appearance than their casual clothes by themselves ever could. For some reason, Dr. Light was stricken with a sudden sadness. He shook his head as he continued on his way. "No problem at all..."

*****************

The three robots shared an awkward silence for several moments. On Rock's part, he felt absolutely no hard feelings about Zero's outburst an hour or so ago, but he knew that Zero had something he wanted to say. It was just a matter of Zero getting up the nerve. Hence the silence.

Finally Iris poked Zero in the ribs and jerked her head in Rock's direction. Zero sighed and stood up to talk to Rock. No matter how many similar conversations he'd had with X, it never seemed to get easier. "Er, look, Rock? About before..."

Rock raised a hand to silence the taller blonde Reploid. "Hey, forget about it," he said with a grin. "If it were Hadrian and I had to stay behind, I'd lash out, too, no matter how correct the decicion to stay behind was."

Zero grinned. This was X's precursor, all right. "It's not just that, Rock. It's this lack of activity, period. I'm beginning to feel useless, and I don't like the feeling."

Rock grinned. "You just want to crack some skulls together, that's all."

Zero laughed out loud. "Rock, you know me too well. Almost as well as X!"

"Which reminds me," Iris broke in. "Where is X?"

****************

X was in his guest room, watching the news coverage from the battle he'd recorded. He had to chuckle as he watched Protoman activate the bombs. "His resourcefulness is amazing isn't it?"

X started at the sudden voice behind him. He recognized the voice, though. "Hi, Rock," he said as he turned, and was unsurprised to see Zero and Iris as well.

Rock pulled up a chair and sat in it, straddling the back. "What's up, X?" he asked. "You haven't been out of this room since I got back with Bass. Somthin' wrong?"

"Rock, check this out," X said as he started the recording over. "Since when has Wily been known to send a force of twenty R.M.'s to one spot?"

Rock frowned. "Y'know, I was wondering that myself. He usually doesn't even have more than eight built at a time. That's usually all he feels he needs."

Zero shrugged. "So what? He was going after Bass this time, and he knew he'd need a lot of firepower to take hm out, right?"

"That's the other thing, Zero," X said in concern. "As insubordinate as Bass is, Wily's never actually tried to off him. I think the father-son relationship between them is better than even they'd admit to themselves."

Rock blinked. "How d'you know Wily so well? You almost sound like me talking."

X grinned. "I have my ways. Now check this out." The fight was well under way, robots and firepower flashing all over the screen. "Watch the Robot Masters. Notice anything unusual?"

Rock concentrated, trying to see what it was that X saw that they didn't. At first he didn't see anything. Then it came to him. "They're adapting their strategies as the fight goes on!" he gasped.

"Exactly," X said with a grim sort of smile. "And since when have they been able to do that?"

"X," Zero interrupted. "You're not suggesting what I hope you're not suggesting, are you?"

X nodded. "'Fraid so. I don't think it's Wily we're up against, anymore."

************

"Apologiesssssss, Lord SSSSSigma," Snake Man was practically groveling. "Basssssss was at our mercssssssy, but Mega Man and his infernal brother sssssssshowed up and managed to-"

"-defeat at least sixteen Robot Masters at the same time!" the pixilated visage of Sigma yelled at the cowering Robot Masters. He had taken up residence in Wily's computer, and used the largest screen available as his link to the outside world. He narrowed his eyes as he looked menacingly upon his new servants. "Go oversee the construction and rebuilding of your fellow Robot Masters and make sure it goes smoothly. I will decide on your punishment later. Now, get out of my sight!"

Sigma allowed himself an evil smile as Snake Man, Guts Man, and Elec Man shuffled out of the room. He learned his lesson with the previous attempt at converting Wily's robots into Reploids. Their inbred loyalty to Wily tended to carry over into their new forms, even through the Maverick Virus. Still, these robots needed some sentience, so he created a breed somewhere in the middle, that could think for themselves as far as fighting strategy goes, yet could do no more or less than he ordered, like basic robots.

Now to get to the business at hand...

There was one particular file in Wily's system that even Sigma was having difficulty cracking. Understandable since it was probably the singular most important file he'd ever created. He most likely kept a backup on his person at all times. Too bad Sigma vaporized that person. Still, he was making headway. If all went well, he'd have the file cracked very soon. And when he did...

Zero my friend, you'll be one of my Mavericks yet!

*************

The first thing Bass was aware of was the fact that he was on a metal table. A lab table. "Urg," he groaned as he slowly sat up. When he opened his eyes he realized that he wasn't in Dr. Wily's lab. That meant he could only be in one other place. Bass looked over to his right and had to chuckle. There was a bench against the wall, and sitting on the bench, Treble's head on her lap, was Roll. She was asleep, head resting against the wall behind her, mouth wide open, perfect bait for any flies that might be in the area. He'd never seen a better sight.

At Bass' movement, Treble stirred, awakening Roll. She rubbed her eyes sleepily as Treble jumped off her lap to greet Bass. When she saw Bass she brightened immediately. "You're awake..." she gasped.

Bass stood up and ran a hand through is blonde hair-his helmet had been removed in order for him to rest more comfortably. "Er, hi, Roll," he said sheepishly.

The two stood about a foot apart, looking at each other with small smiles on their faces. Then, without any warning at all, Roll slapped Bass hard across the face. Bass stumbled backward against the examination table. "You JERK!" she yelled at him a moment before storming out the door. She almost bowled over Rock, who was just entering. He merely shook his head an chuckled.

"Ow!" Bass said, rubbing his cheek. Never before had he been blind sided so completely, not even when Rock punched him in the face at the M.H.H.Q. in the future. "What I do? What I do?" He asked as he rubbed his cheek.

Rock chuckled again. "Oh, come on," Rock had to laugh. "You had to have figured something like this would've happened when you finally showed up. Don't worry, Bass. If she hit you that hard, it must mean she really does like you."

Bass had to laugh himself. "I guess she is right. I am a jerk."

"You better believe it," Rock agreed as he picked up a portable system scanner and began running a quick check-up on Bass' systems.

The two were silent for a few minutes as Rock ran the wand-like instrument over every part of Bass's body, concentrating on the readout, making sure there was nothing wrong. Finally, Bass spoke. "It's kinda strange, isn't it?" Bass asked.

"Huh, what?" Rock asked absent mindedly.

Bass sighed. It wasn't like him to talk this seriously about anything with anyone, especially Rock. "Well, ever since I was built, all I cared about was being the best, the strongest. Musta been the way I was programmed even before my 'conversion.' Well, since you had the title, that meant I had to kill you. Wily's plots and plans really didn't mean squat to me, so long as I got a shot at you."

Mega Man stopped. Bass was bearing his soul, setting his outer cockyness aside to really talk, and that wasn't like him at all. Then again, Bass had been doing a lot of things out of character recently. "Go on," he prompted.

"So, Wily sends me to th' future t' try and find a way t' beat you. I lure you there as part of a grand plan to get you gone, and what happens?"

Rock grinned. "Let's see, you fall for my sister, save her life twice, team up with me to take on the ultimate evil, where you end up saving my life multiple times as well, where you become nearly-fatally injured, fighting on the side of 'truth, justice, and the American way.' Nothing I would'a expected from you, ever."

Bass nodded. "Yeah, and now th' two of us have put aside our rivalry entirely, and act as if we've always been best friends, rather than bitter enemies up to a month ago. Boy, life is strange."

Rock stood up, deactivating the scanner. "Sure is, but if it wasn't, where'd the fun be? Take me fer instance. I was never meant to be a fighter, just a mechanic. Then my co-creator goes bonkers an' tries to take over the world. I end up becoming the worlds best hope. I find out later that I have an older brother I never knew about, I've been through more life-and-death situations in my life than Spider-Man, and now my sister's in love with the most dangerous being on the planet, and the weirdest part is, I don't mind."

Bass just shook his head. Then grinned. "You don't huh? Then you wouldn't mind if Roll and I were to..."

"Just be good to Roll, okay? If you don't..." Rock grinned. "I'll kick your butt from here to the moon!"

The conversation had been interrupted by the sound of an automatic door opening. Bass' eyes widened. In the doorway was a tall young man with blonde hair done up in a knee-length ponytail. "Zero...?" Bass muttered.

Zero grinned. "Hi, bro."

Rock stood up, shutting off his scanner. "Well, this thing says you're A-Okay, so I'll leave the two of you alone. Peace!" And so saying, Rock left.

*************

Rock was halfway down the hall when he stopped short. "I know you're there, Hadrian, you might as well show yourself."

Rock's leather clad older brother emerged from the shadows. "How'd you know I was here?"

Rock grinned. "I have my ways," he said, repeating earlier words. "So, what's up."

Hadrian had a look on his face that said he wasn't looking forward to the ensuing conversation. "Actually, I came to warn you."

"Warn me?" Rock said, confused. "Of what?"

Hadrian looked his little brother right in the eyes. "Bass."

Rock's face hardened. "What are you talking about, Hadrian?"

The older brother shook his head. "Rock, you've always been too trusting for your own good!" he exclaimed in exasperation.

"And you've never been trusting enough!" Rock responded. "Besides, you didn't seem to concerned about him earlier!"

"Oh, I was Rock, believe, me. But certain cercomstances made it seem more prudent not to bring it up. Not the least of which was the fact I knew you wouldn't'a listened to me."

Rock gave his brother a look that said that he still wasn't taking him very seriously.

Hadrian sighed. "Look, Rock, I'm not as distrustful as you make me out t' be. Okay? I don't doubt Bass' intentions, but you know what they say about good intentions."

Rock blinked. This was a point he didn't expect to hear. "What do you mean?"

"I'm saying that I know the steps he's taken to turn over a new leaf, but he's still very volatile."

"Volatile?!" Rock spat. "I know you were listening to our last conversation! Was there anything volatile about it?"

Hadrian rolled his eyes. "Like I said, I know the steps he's taken, but Rome wasn't built in a day. He's still got a long way to go. All I'm saying is to be careful, okay?"

Rock turned leave, but stopped after a couple of steps. "You're right, bro. You're right. I'll be care..." Rock turned to face his brother, but he was gone. "I hate it when you do that!" Rock yelled into the air. "You know that, right?"

The air was suddenly split by the blaring alarm and red flashing klaxons of the intruder alert. Rock took just a second to regain his thoughts, then rand down the hallway at full speed. He reached the security room in seconds, but Dr. Light was already sitting at the monitor. Bass, Zero, and Iris almost immediately followed. "What is Dr..."Rock began, then stopped mid sentence. The monitor showed a figure stumbling on the grounds, holding his chest, obviously injured. The figure then dropped to the ground and didn't get up, though he was straining to do so.

"I...I don't believe it..."Bass muttered.

Zero shook his head. "I don't eigher."

Rock had to say it, just to make sure he wasn't seeing things himself. "Wily?"


	8. The True Nature of the Threat

Chapter 7

The True Nature of the Threat

  


"Quick, Roll! Call an ambulance!" Dr. Light ordered.

"No!" cried X. "Do that and they'll haul him off to jail soon as he's recovered."

Rock looked slightly bewildered. "And that's bad how?"

X looked his younger self right in the eyes. "Look, Rock. Things're going weird right now, and Wily probably has part of the answer. We also don't want anybody else to know, and the authorities would record any conversation you had with him."

Rock sighed, before grabbing the system scanner from off a table and adjusted it to read human signals. "I hate it when you're right. Anybody here know how to put humans back together?"

X, Zero, and Iris all raised their hands. "All part of the job," Zero said grimly.

Rock nodded before dashing out the door in order to help his injured nemesis.

Bass grit his teeth as he looked at the image of the comatose scientist lying in the grass and cursed. "Why can't my life ever be simple? Just this once..." Bass stopped as he felt an arm wrap around his waist and looked down see Roll. He simply put his arm around her shoulder and stood there silent as he watched Rock dash toward Wily.

*************

Rock ran as fast as he could, and as he was a robot capable of speeds far surpassing humans, it was unsurprising that he reached Wily's comatose form within moments. Wily was facedown. Before Rock could turn him over, a voice from behind stopped him. "I did a quick scan. There's no other 'bots in the area."

Rock turned to see his brother, once again dressed as Protoman. "Don't you have anything better t' do than stalk the house?" he asked.

Protoman shrugged. "Not really. You gonna check Wily out or what?"

Rock nodded and turned his attention to the unconscious scientist. He turned him over, and barely managed to swallow a curse before it could escape his lips. Rather futile, as Protoman uttered a profanity vile enough for the both of them.

Wily's shirt had a near-perfect hole burned into it, and underneath...

"Erg," Protoman muttered. "If I could barf, I think I would."

"You 'n me both, bro," Rock agreed. He scanned Wily with his scanner and whistled. "Wow..."

"What is it bro?" Protoman asked.

"This wound was created by a plasma blast. That'd explain why the wound's already cauterized..."

"Hold it bro," Protoman interrupted. "Plasma? Did you say plasma?!"

Rock nodded grimly. "Yeah, but this wound is way too shallow. Doesn't even penetrate to any of his internals. A plasma bolt with any sort of power behind it should have..."

"Gone right through to the other side," Protoman finished. Rock nodded. Protoman sighed as he removed his shield from his back. "Well, we aren't going to solve anything standing here and talking about it. Let's get him inside and patched up. He'll be able to answer all our questions when he wakes up."

Rock nodded again. "Right. Let's get moving."

Protoman and Rock gently picked Wily up and placed him atop Protoman's shield, and, using the shield as a makeshift stretcher, transported him back to Dr. Light's lab.

************

Hours later, Wily's wounds were cleaned and dressed, and he was resting peacefully. And, according to Iris, would probably be awakening sometime withing the next day or so. 

Rock entered the game room where the other robots currently were. Bass and Roll were watching a movie, X was playing a portable video game and Zero and Hadrian were engaged in a game of table tennis. Rock collapsed in a vacant bean bag chair and rubbed his eyes. "This is so frustrating!" he said through clenched teeth. "We have no idea what's going on here, Wily's the answer to it all, and he's down and out for who knows how long! This is completely new to me, and believe it or not, I don't like new experiences."

Zero shook his head, as he returned Hadrian's serve. "I think it's more you don't like feeling useless. Believe me, I can relate. But what choice do we have?"

Hadrian grinned as he sent the ball back to his opponent. "Well, we could just raid Wily's current base. We do have somebody here with an intimate knowledge of the place..."

"No good," X replied. "We don't even know if the threat came from there in the first place. We don't know if the Space Node is even still there. We don't know who-or what-caused us to come here. There's too many unknowns to just charge in recklessly guns blazing. I don't like it any more than you do, but I think now would be the time to err on the side of caution."

At that moment, Dr. Light and Iris entered the room. "Hey, Doc," Hadrian greeted. "Any news?"

"Albert is still resting peacefully. He's more than stable, and will be just fine given enough time."

"How 'bout the wound?" Rock asked. "Any reason it's so minor?"

Dr. Light held up a small skull-shaped object. "Recognize this?"

Rock looked at the object quizzically. "Sure. It's that wacky belt buckle Wily's taken to wearing. So?"

"Albert's put a kind of emergency escape unit in this buckle that was designed to teleport him away from a fatal hit the moment of impact. It's powerful, too. Designed to teleport him to Earth from the Space Node. Unfortunately, he made a slight error in his calculations and the plasma bolt actually got to him before he teleported away."

Rock winced. "Owch!"

"So when's he gonna be able to talk?" Hadrian asked.

Dr. Light shrugged. "Not until morning at least. The wound wasn't fatal, but it was pretty darn close. Albert was in a lot of pain for an extended period of time. He almost went into shock. He needs to rest."

X sighed. "I guess if that's what we have to do, but the sooner we fight out what's going on, the better."

"I second that," Bass agreed.

Zero made a dive in attempt to volley the ping pong ball back to Hadrian, but missed, giving the winning point to his opponent. "Well, I guess the most we can do is head to bed, but we should have one of us at Wily's bedside, just in case."

Iris nodded. "Yes, but it should probably be someone from this time period. He probably won't be in the best mental state when he wakes up, and the sight of one of us might send him off the deep end."

Rock stood up and stretched. "All right. I'll take the first watch. I don't think I'll be able to get much sleep tonight anyway."

************

Sigma sighed with satisfaction. He finally managed to crack the program, and it was just what he was looking for. Schematics, power output, location-it was all here. Now all he had to do was send a team of Robot Masters to the planet, unearth the pod buried there, and bring it back. Sigma chuckled. Zero, I may not be able to own your future self, but in your current state...the Age of the Reploids will begin now!

************

It was two in the morning when Dr. Wily awoke. Roll was the one on watch, when Wily suddenly cried out in seeming pain and fear. Roll put down the romance novel she was reading and ran to his side. "Doc!" she yelled. "DOC!!!"

Wily awoke with a start and almost panicked again when he saw Roll. "It's okay, doc. It's okay," Roll said in a soothing voice.

Dr. Wily calmed down, as Rock, Hadrian, X and Zero charged in. Wily seemed relieved to see them all, especially Zero. "What's goin' on here?" Rock asked.

Wily had trouble talking, but he was able to say what he had to say. "It was...it was...Sigma. H-he somehow managed to...to infect my...my computer. H-he tried to kill me. He now has control of th-the Node..." Wily slipped into unconsciousness. 

Everyone was silent for a moment after that. X was the first to speak. "Sigma! If he's here, and in this time period, then there's only one thing he'd be after."

Zero nodded grimly. "Me."


	9. Chapter 8: Just a Matter of Semantics

Chapter 8

Just a Matter of Semantics

Bass rubbed his eyes wearily. "Great. Just great," he muttered. "The ultimate evil the world's ever known showed up on my own front door, took out my creator, and now he can destroy the world as he pleases."

Bass' blonde haired older brother grimmaced. "And the key to this destruction just happens to be me!" he growled.

Rock sighed. "Dr. Light, you haven't happened to have finished your work with X, have you? The last thing we need is Sigma getting ahold of him, too"

Dr. Light shook his head. "No. His structural frame is about eighty percent complete, but I haven't even started on his electronic brain yet." It was obvious he was feeling guilt over the situation. If he hadn't come up with the idea of X, Bass wouldn't have stolen the plans during the seventh war.

X made no outward show, but it was if a light clicked on in his head. _So, that explains a few things. He was already working on me when Rock lost his final battle. He just transported his Bioroid mind to my Reploid body. The two robot types are close enough that the personality routines were accepted, even if the memories got scrambled._

"Do you happen to know where Wily dumped Zero?" Hadrian asked Bass.

Bass shook his head. "Not with any kind of pinpoint accuracy. The doc's been getting more 'n more paranoid as the years go on. He trusted me enough to give a very general area, but it would take a lot of searching to find."

"How 'general' are we talking about here?" Iris asked. "Death Valley?"

Bass had to smirk. "Yeah, actually."

Zero cursed.

"SNAKE MAAAAAAN!"

The name reverberated throughout the Space Node, and the Robot Master in question appeared in the central computer room within seconds. "Yessssss, Lord Ssssssigma?"

Sigma's scarred facade glared at his green and white underling before saying two words. "Status report."

Snake Man bowed. "Robot Master reconstruction is proceeding precisely on schedule. Your army will be complete in about five hours."

Sigma grinned nastily. "You have three."

Snake Man knew better than to try to make excuses or to argue with his new boss. "Yessss, ssssir." he said respectfully before exiting.

Sigma was actually quite satisfied for the moment. Things were going quite well. After all, he knew where Zero was hidden, as well as the fact that X was yet to be anywhere near completion, and he had an entire army of robots to ensure that any resistance would be futile. All he had to do was activate this time period's Zero, and let nature take its course, so to speak. It would be only a matter of time before the human race would be destroyed. Then Sigma would be free to make a world of Reploids. A world...in his image.

It was mid afternoon when Wily woke up again. Bass was on duty, pouring over a map of Death Valley, marking off sites that had already turned up blank, and plotting prospective search grids. Wily slowly opened his eyes and turned his head weakly in Bass' direction. When he saw what Bass was doing, he chuckled weakly. "Looking for..."little brother"...are we...?" he asked, cruel amusement evident even in his weak voice.

"Doc! You're awake!" Bass said with a smile.

"Way to state the obvious," Wily responded, his voice growing stronger. "And to think that you're the smartest of my creations."

Bass couldn't help but grin, realizing, of course, that the same dig would have caused him to go into a furious fit not more than a month ago. Any more conversation was interrupted by Roll as she burst into the bedroom with a bowl of soup. "'Morning, Doc," she said in a cheerful voice as she set the tray on his lap. "Good to see you got your strength back. Now eat up, we wouldn't want you to die just yet as you have info we need to save the world."

Wily grinned wryly as he began to eat, but didn't say a word. Bass however was looking at Roll in amazement. "Wily's not awake for two seconds, and you're already prepared with food n' everything. I swear, it's like your psychic or something."

Roll just grinned and said, "Uh-huh. Now shoo, he needs to eat. We can drill him for Zero's location after we're sure he's not terminal."

Bass chuckled as he left. "Quite the bedside manner you have there, no wonder Rock prefers the repair bay..." He ducked the pillow she threw at him and left to report to the others.

Zero stood unmoving, looking out the window to the guest room. He hadn't moved or spoken for several hours, and X and Iris were getting worried. They exchanged a worried glance from their chairs across from each other. Finally X cleared his throat. "All right, Zero, what is it?"

Zero turned to face his fried. "What is what?" he asked in a not-too-convincing show of mild annoyance.

X folded his arms and looked at Zero straight in the eye with a dubious look on his face. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. What exactly is it that's crawled up your butt?" When Zero still refused to answer, he sighed. "Look, Zero. You know I've always been perfectly willing to let you keep your secrets. The past is in the past and all that. I never pressed the matter, even when you told me about Wily--okay?--and you know I'm on the level 'bout this. But guess what, pal? The past ain't in the past anymore. See this place? This place were in right now? It's Dr. Light's lab. Maybe you heard of it. We're here, Dr. Light's here, even Dr. Wily's here. So normally, yeah, I'd never push you to reveal anything you weren't ready for, but right now we really don't have a choice. So spill the beans, already."

Zero stood stock still for a moment longer, then he visibly deflated as if he had a slow leak. "X, Wily building me was only half of the story. Remember what Sigma said when Bass asked him about his mastery of Evil Energy?"

X grinned in spite of himself and shook his head. "I was buried under a couple tons of rock at the moment, remember?"

Iris thought for a moment, then her eyes widened. "He said something about his virus half being created by the energy!"

Zero nodded. "And where do you think he got infected by the virus in the first place?"

X and Iris simply stared at their friend in bewilderment.

Zero sighed again. "Okay, let's try this. X, remember back before the first war, when Sigma was still in charge of the Hunters, a rumor about a 'mysterious red Maverick?"

X nodded. "I wasn't involved with the Hunters at the time, but, yeah, it rings a bell. Didn't he take out an entire unit by himself?"

Zero nodded. "And Sigma managed to take him down, but he was severely damaged. That's where he got those frickin, scars in the first place."

"Zero," X asked. "Are you telling me that you were this Red Maverick?"

Zero nodded. "That's exactly what I'm saying. I don't remember much of my Maverick days, just an unending feeling of rage. That and a constant buzzing of three words. Destroy, Infect, Survive. When Sigma got me with his final blow, the virus left me. I was about to be deactivated, so it had to fulfill its second and third algorithms."

Iris' eyes widened. "And it infected Sigma...."

"Exactly. I'm the cause of all the Maverick wars. It was me!" Zero lowered his head, allowing his hair to fall over his eyes and obstruct his face, then turned away from what he perceived to be accusing eyes. "Don't you see?" he asked pitifully. "If I didn't exist, then the Wars would never happen." Zero felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist. "Zero," Iris said in a comforting voice. "You can't blame yourself for..." But Zero gently untangled himself from her embrace and separated himself from her. "We have to find my past self," Zero said softly. "And destroy it." Iris gasped, thought X only slightly raised his eyebrows. He was half expecting that response already.

X, who by now was pacing around the room, passed the window and stopped. Zero and Iris were too entrenched in their own thoughts to notice. They couldn't help but notice when he struck his arm out the window with blinding speed and withdrew it just as quickly, sending a red and yellow blur bouncing across the floor.

Protoman sputtered and yanked at his scarf--X had yanked him into the room by the ends of it-  
-and said, "Good going, Bro. I guess fifty years'll teach you a thing or two, huh?"

X facepalmed and muttered something about wanting one little secret, that's all, and Protoman straightened and regained his cool composure. "Well, since I'm a part of this conversation now, can I add my two bits?" Zero nodded. "Okay, I know I'm not a part of your time period or anything, but Rock and I studied a little backstory while we were guests at the Hunter Towers, and you said something about Sigma being leader of the hunters before this Red Maverick even appeared. Now, remind me again, what was the purpose of the Hunters? Anyone?"

X had to grin at his brother's tact, or lack thereof, and answered. "To hunt down and retire Mavericks."

Protoman nodded. "Right. And that means there were Mavericks before you even entered the equation." Zero opened his mouth to say something, but Protoman continued as if he didn't even notice. "So there's no telling if Sigma would have gone Maverick even without the help of Wily's stinkin' virus. Bear with me for a moment, here, and consider this. Let's say we go and destroy your past self, and Sigma still ends up going Maverick, taking the other Hunters with him. X here, being the naive little hero he is, would still go charging off half-cocked, and he'd still likely run into Vile in that Ride Armor of his. What do you think will happen if you're not there to pull his fat out of the fryer?"

Zero shook his head. "How do you know it would end up like that?"

"How do you know it wouldn't?" Protoman responded. "Look, the future is messed up. I'm not going to deny it, but believe it or not, you guys are winning. I saw the signs while I was there. The collateral may be high, but you are still winning. And you are a big part of that. So whether you wanna believe me or not is up to you, but guess what Zero? You. Are. A hero."

Zero frowned a bit, but Protoman could tell he was considering his words. "And now if you'll excuse me..." the visored robot said with a grin before making his exit.

As soon as Protoman entered the hallway, he heard a familiar voice call his name. "Hi, Rock." he responded as his little brother trotted up next to him.

"What's up, bro?" Rock asked.

Protoman shrugged. "Nothin' much. Y'know, just checking up on things."

"Spying, you mean," Rock said with a grin.

Protoman shrugged again as he separated himself from his little brother. "Tomato tom-ah-to, Rock. Tomato tom-ah-to."

Rock just chuckled and shook his head as he went the other way.

Protoman was in for quite a sight when he arrived at Dr. Wily's quarters. Bass had the old doctor up against the headboard of his bed and looked ready to tear the man's head off. Roll was curled up in a corner, trying to be as invisible as possible.

Protoman chuckled. "Lemmie guess. Wily's had a bit of a change of heart and won't tell you Zero's coordinates."

Bass, barely containing his rage, merely nodded. "And why should I?" Wily asked. "He thinks I'm safely out of the picture! So all I have to do is hide out until he's prepared the world for my rule, then I just have to detonate the Space Node."

Protoman seemed to be thinking about that and nodded. "True. You could do that. But if you did, I think Bass here will kill you."

Wily scoffed. "Really, now? He's gone just as goody-two-shoes as you and Mega Man!"

Protoman shrugged. "If you say so. Personally, I don't think he's quite as much the Boy Scout you think he is. And frankly, I don't think I'd be able to stop him, either. Something to remember, Wily. We're all Bioroids here. We aren't restricted to following program peramiters anymore. Whatever safety you installed in Bass when you made him most likely won't work anymore."

Wily's eyes went wide and he looked Bass in the face. What he saw was cold fury, and chilled him. "Come on, Roll," Protoman was saying to his sister. "Let's leave these two alone..."

When they got outside the room, Roll cast a concerned look at her brother. "You don't think he'd really...?"

Protoman chuckled and shook his head. In a low voice he told her, "Nah. I think Wily actually had Bass figured out pretty well. His temper is the hottest of all of us, but I don't think he'd be able to kill his own creator at this point. It's just I've always wanted to play Good Cop/Bad Cop..."

The door slid open at that moment and Bass came through. "We got the coordinates," he said evenly. "Wily just about messed himself and gave 'em to me just before fainting."

Roll took his arm. "Bass, are you okay?" she asked.

Bass began to nod, but then shook his head. "Not really, but we got a job to do."

Minutes later, all six of the warrior robots--decked out in their battle gear--along with Roll and Dr. Light, were gathered in the Radar Room discussing their plan. Mega Man, Bass, X and Iris seemed to have come to the conclusion that they should simply move the past Zero to a new hiding place before Sigma attacked. Zero hesitated a moment, but agreed to the plan. "You okay?" X asked him in a whisper.

Zero grinned and whispered back. "Sure. You're the one with the guilt complex, remember?"

"You know," Protoman broke in. "I think our best bet will be to just let Sigma send his attack force to pick up Zero, then dispose of them. It'd make the Node itself much easier to fight through if we could take out some of his army before we get there."

Mega Man shook his head in disbelief. "Hadrian, you're nuts. This is too important for Sigma to trust to a small number. He's going to get really organized and send in a fair number of R.M.s to get Zero, probably more than he sent to wipe out Bass. We wouldn't stand a chance."

"That's your problem, Rock," Protoman replied, and, indicating X and Zero, added, "and yours, too, for that matter. You think the only way to engage an enemy is to go to 'blast-the-crap-outta-everything mode.'" Protoman turned on a monitor, which was showing footage of how Protoman got the Robot Masters from earlier to back off with hidden bombs. He had to grin. "This time, we're going to be playing by my rules."


	10. Rules of Engagement

Chapter 9

Rules of Engagement

The capsule stood about ten feet tall; a glowing blue-green glass-like cylinder between two plates of monitoring equipment. The glow from the capsule cast an eerie light on the cavern in which it rested. And, on either side of the only entrance to the cavern, a pair of robots waited.

"I tell ya, X, I never thought I'd see the day," Mega Man commented as he double checked his systems in preparation for the upcoming battle. "I mean, Hadrian's taken part in my battles, sure, but he's always, _always_, just stayed in the background, showing up only when he felt I needed help. He's never taken charge like this before."

X nodded. "Yeah, I know, but these are not normal times. Desperate times and desperate measures and all that. And, in any case, he's right. These hit-'n-run battles are more his specialty than ours, and that's exactly what this fight'll call for."

"Oh, I know," Mega Man replied. "But it still kinda weirds me out is all."

"Like the idea of Bass as one of the good guys?" X asked wryly.

Mega Man grinned. "Point taken, point taken." Mega Man tapped the side of his helmet and opened a patch to Protoman. "Hey, bro. X and I are in position. Any changes out there?"

"None yet," Protoman responded from his perch on one of the valley walls outside, where he was scanning the area with a pair of binoculars. "The Robot Masters are a no-show here. Anything on your end, Iris?"

"None, here," Iris responded from a similar perch across the valley. "All this waiting is starting to get to me, though."

Protoman grinned. "I agree with you 100. At least we know that they can't just teleport right into the cavern and take the prize. Ole' Al's paranoia's good for something at least. Thanks to him, we only had some minor renovations to make. Oh, and thanks for sniffing out all the traps for us by the way, Bass."

"No problem," Bass replied from his hiding spot. "But I'd be more concerned about the extra junk you got from that lard-butt Auto."

"Hey," a deep voice replied over the comm line. "Big Eddie's stands by all the weapons of mass destruction we sell!"

Protoman grinned. "Guess the line to home base still works. And by the way, Auto, if that was you making funny, don't quit the day job."

Back at Dr. Light's lab, the rotund green robot named Auto grinned--or he would have if his somewhat primitive design allowed for it. "Aw, c'mon Bluesy. You just don't get the finer points of humor."

Roll placed a hand on Auto's shoulder and said, "No, Auto, he's right. That stank." The little red Flip-Top suitcase unit known as Eddie beeped his agreement.

Auto feigned deep hurt. "Et tu, Eddie?" he asked overdramatically.

Roll shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Just when I think that the day couldn't get any weirder, Auto goes and paraphrases Shakespear. I really need to sit down, I think."

"All right, all right," Dr. Light said, a mix of amusement and annoyance in his voice. "Let's all concentrate on the battle."

Protoman broke in over the comm unit at that point. "Incoming. Robot Masters at 5 o'clock! Though it looks more like quarter past four t'me."

"And you say _I_ need help," Auto muttered.

"Same over here," Iris reported. "Lots of 'em, complete with Sniper Joes, Mettools, and some drone 'bots I'm not familiar with."

Protoman whistled. "Siggy's smart, I'll give him credit. I think every R.M. from the first seven wars are out there, but they're not just swarming in, either. They're forming ranks and taking up lookout positions." Protoman fell silent for a moment as he observed what was happening below. "Rock, X, heads up. Looks like they're sending a squad of eight Robot Masters to pick up the payload. They aren't taking any Joes or other such units with them, either."

"Roger that," Mega Man responded. "With any luck, some of the traps in here will take out at least one of 'em, but we know what to do in any case."

"Good boy," Protoman responded with a grin. He waited for a moment for the primary excavation crew to enter the cave system. "Yo, Bass, you fused with Treble over there?"

"You know it."

"All right. Now might be a good time to disrupt them for a bit."

"I've been waiting to hear you say that..." Bass said before shutting off his connection. A moment later a purple and grey streak shot out of a gap in the canyon wall and shot right to a group of robots. Bass slowed down enough to pepper them with a good dose of plasma, but when they returned fire, he was already gone, pestering another group. "All right, Iris," Protoman said with a grin. "Now it's time we showed 'em just how deadly a weapon stealth really is."

Sigma couldn't believe it. He simply couldn't believe it. It wasn't the fact that Mega Man and his infernal family were there to battle his army. That was something he had prepared for. It was the tactics used. Hidden bombs taking out large groups of drones. Bass doing strafing runs, then retreating. Plasma raining down from the plateaus. This was guerilla warfare at its finest. Not the kind of tactics Light-bots were known to use. In fact, the Hunter organization being primarily a reactionary force and all, Sigma himself rarely relied on such tactics until after he became leader of the Mavericks. There was something wrong about the entire setup, and he couldn't be sure what it was. And there was another thing bothering him. It wasn't something he could prove, not something he could see, but he knew. X and Zero were here. Of course they were here. They'd follow him to the end of the world itself. Destiny was funny that way. It was time to bring out his trump card for when the inevitable raid on the Node would come. At his mental command, a large sliding trap door opened in the floor, and the platform below it rose to floor level. Resting on the platform was a large object covered with a white sheet, just to keep it nice and shiny for its trial run. Sigma had the feeling that trial run would be soon.

The Robot Masters didn't know what hit them. Snake Man was leading the small group deeper into the cavern that held Zero's capsule. All of them were on guard, since they'd encountered several traps within the twisting stone corridor that hadn't been in the briefing. Even so, with the glow of the capsule illuminating everything and the Robot Masters on full alert, they were taken by surprise. They were ripped into immediately by rapid fire plasma blasts. The Robot Masters scattered and returned fire, which X and Mega Man were easily able to dodge. Mega Man blew the group a raspberry and he and X vanished back down the corridor. Snake Man scowled. "Gutsssss Man, Elec Man. Ssssstay here with me. The resssst of you. After them!"

As the other Robot Masters–Metal Man, Napalm Man, Pharaoh Man, Wood Man, and Needle Man–charged after their query, the other three Robot Masters turned their attention on the capsule. Snake Man stepped ahead of the other two, and entered the code to release Zero. Nothing happened. "Uh, I thought the capsule-thing was supposed to open," Guts Man said, confused.

"It wassss," Snake Man responded before reaching for the keypad again. Before he could hit a single button, the capsule clicked as blue-green smoke emerged from the resultant crack at the bottom. The glass tube instantly flew back into the upper plate, bathing the area in the smoke. "Uh, Snake?" Elec Man asked.

One moment later, Snake Man's head bounced out of the smoke and stopped his feet. "Oh, sh..." Elec Man cried out a split second before being bisected. Guts Man tried to run, but lost a leg, and fell flat on his face. Then he lost his head. The smoke cleared, and Zero–the future Zero–was standing over the remains, sheathing his beam sabre.

"This is Z, reporting in," he said over the comm system, turning off the holo-projector which hid the true capsule. "The capsule's secure. Over."

"X, here. We've got the 'A-Route.' Over,"

"Then I'll secure the 'B-Route.' Over 'n out." Zero spent one more second gazing up at the capsule, then turned to leave. He stopped for a moment at the husks that were once the Robot Masters and thought for a second. Then he bent down and got to work.

"Speaking of securing the route..." Mega Man said with a grin, his back to a cavern wall. "Care to do the honors?"

"One more second..." X responded, as he ducked a Metal Blade. "NOW!" X hit a hidden button in the wall, causing a large chunk of the ceiling to drop down, crushing all five of the Robot Masters.

"Y'know something?" Mega Man asked, his grin spreading. "I think I could grow to like playing by Hadrian's rules."

"Yeah, it has its place," X replied with a grin, deactivating the holo-projector that hid the narrow escape route. "C'mon let's...what're you doing?"

Mega Man stood up from where he was leaning over the remains of Metal Man. "Just copying me some weapons. Want some?"

"I dunno," X said. "My Variable Weapons System is a newer model than yours. I dunno if it's compatible with weapons systems as old as these."

Mega Man offered X a forearm. "Well, you never know until you try."

Iris hid behind a large rock outcropping, charging the temporary arm cannon attatchment that Dr. Light put together for her. When the Joes got in her line of sight, she let loose with a super shot and several rapid fire shots, taking out several of the Joes. When they returned fire, she was already gone. When she and Protoman met near the exit to the cavern minutes later, Protoman had to grin. "Hey, you're pretty good at this. So, what was up with the whole 'damsel in distress' routine in the last Maverick War?"

"How'd you know about that?"

"You don't become a mysterious semi-hero without studying your friends as well as enemies."

Iris shook her head and grinned. "It basically came down to the fact that I couldn't decide which side to fight on. That, and martial arts don't work well against a giant mecha-dragon..."

Mega Man poked his head out of the cavern entrance. "Are we interrupting anything?"

"Not much, just talkin' 'bout origins 'n stuff," Protoman said with a grin.

"Heads up!" Iris said.

A red blur leaped from one of the surrounding canyon walls, sending Robot Masters scattering in every direction when it landed. Protoman slapped his forehead. "Zero, what did I say about the blasting...?"

"Blasting? Who's blasting? I'm not blasting?" Zero said over the comm system. Protoman muttered something unintelligible as X tried really hard not to laugh outright. "Hang on a sec, be right there," Zero said. A couple of seconds later, the carnage ceased and Zero was reunited with the others. "Here," he said, tossing something in Mega Man's direction. "Merry Christmas."

Mega Man studied the small objects momentarily. "Weapons chips," he muttered. Then grinned. "Aw, you shouldn't have."

"Okay, Bass," Protoman said into the communicator. "We're ready to move. We just need you here."

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you already." Bass said from directly behind Protoman, causing him to start. "You think you 'n Iris can handle the rest of the R.M.'s."

Protoman had regained his composure. "Easily enough. You sure you won't need some extra help with Sigma."

Bass grinned as he, Rock, X, and Zero linked hands. "Please. Siggy's been there less than a week. What could he possibly have to throw at us?" That said, Bass concentrated the Alien Energy and in a blue flash, the four robots were gone.

Protoman rubbed the back of his head. "Y'know, it's probably a good thing I don't believe in Karma..."

No sooner had they landed did Mega Man get bowled over by something hitting him square in the back. "What the...?" he muttered as he watched a yellow blob of mudlike material splatter against the wall. He looked to the opposite wall to see that it was comparable to swiss cheese. "Great, LOOK OUT!" he cried as more and more blobs shot from the holes. Moments that seemed like hours later, the mud collected itself into a round blob, which sprouted arms and legs. Finally, in the center of the blob, a red eye the white of which was black, opened in the approximate center of it's round torso. Mega Man groaned. "Bass, I think your aim needs a little work..."


End file.
